Electric trolley-wheel



J. W. CLARK. ELECTRIC TROLLEY WHEEL.

(No Model.)

Patente E wr L) @v a?? ...IR E r/Vmv I. fv\ f. I I l UNiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. CLARK, OF MENANDS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO SAMUEL J.

HAIGHT, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

ELECTRlC TROLLEY-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,562, dated August 15, 1893. Application led February 23, 1893. Serial No. 463.483. (No model.)

T 0 @ZZ wl/0122, it' mfr/y concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. CLARK, of Menands, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Wheels for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore great difficulty has been experieneed on electric-railways in northern climates from the trolley-wires becoming coated with ice, which ice, being apoor conductor of electricity, practically prevents the trolleywheel from. performing its functions effectively. This effect is commonly experienced during a drizzling rain in winter, and it is the cause of many vexatious delays in street-railway travel.

The object of my invention is to provide a trolley-wheel that will automatically remove the incrustation of ice from the trolley-wires, so as to leave the latter clean and in perfect order for the transmission of the electric current through the electric-motor of the car to which the trolley-wheel is attached. This object I attain by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings which are herein referred to and form part of this specification.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my trolley-wheel when made in a single piece. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same at the line X X. Fig. 4C is a transverse section of the same at the line Y Y. Fig. 5 is a front elevation oi my trolley-wheel formed of two like parts joined together on a central vertical plane. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the two parts of said trolley-wheel separated from each other; and Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the inner face of one of said separable parts.

As represented in thedrawings, A designates myimproved trolley-wheel made as an entirety and consisting of a hub, B, provided with a central hole, O, which may be made to exactly fit the pivot on which said wheel rotates, or said hole may have a larger hole to be hushed down to the diameter of said pivot. Radiating from said hub is a series of arms, I), the spaces between said arms being continued longitudinally across the hub B, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 4., in the form of grooves which separate the ribs formed thereby, the edges of said ribs forming a continuation of the ice-breakin g edges of said arms across the bottom of the groove G; the outer end of said arms connect with a pair of corresponding rims, E, having a flaring surface, F, that will guide a trolley-wire into a groove, G, which intervenes between said iiaring surfaces; the inner diameter of said groove, in the. ribs at the bottom of the latter is made in the form of a concave, as at I, to form, in each of said ribs a seat that will fit the surface of the lower side of a trolley-wire, so as to form a close and perfect contact between the ribs of said trolley-wheel and trolley-wire. Each of the arms D is provided with a shoulder, H, which is formed on the inner face of the arm at the base of the Haring surface F; said shoulder aids in breaking the coating of ice from the surface of the trolley-wire. The sides of the groove G shown in the drawings are practically parallel with each other, but they maybe made to liare outwardly toa triiiing extent and an equally good effect will be thereby obtained.

In the modification of my invention, as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the trolley-wheel .I is formed of two like parts joined together on a plane that is at right angles to the axis of rotation of said wheel; the conjoining faces of the two parts should form an electrical contact with each other. Each of the two parts of said modified form of my trolley-wheel should be made in substantially the same form as one half of the trolley-wheel A, hereinbefore described, the line of separation being parallel with the plane of the side of the wheel. Then the said two parts are joined together, as shown in Fig. 5, a trolley-wheel .I is formed that is substantially the counterpart of the trolley-wheel A shown in Fig. 1. In either form of my invention, the trolleywheel is fixed between the fork K, of the trolley-armsaid fork being shown in transverse section in Fig. 5-and a pivot-bolt, L, passes through the eyes of said fork and the centerbore of the trolley-wheel to form an axis on which the trolley-wheel will rotate. The fork K and pivot-bolt L should be made of metal ICO " the heat of the atmosphere;

possessing electrical conductivity, and connect with a conducting-Wire which communicates with the electric-motor contained With' in the car to which the trolley-wheel is attached.

My invention operates in the following manner: When a coating of ice forms on a trolley-wire it is usually formed on the lower side of said wire by the Water flowing down to the lower side preparatory to dropping oi of the wire, but it becomes congealed and remains on the lower side of the wire until it is removed by mechanical means or is melted by when the wire is coated with ice it can be automatically removed by my trolley-Wheel, which, by its rotations, will bring the sharp edges of the ribs at the bottom of the groove G and the shoulders H of the arms D into successive contact with the ice, so as to break; the latter from the wire and allow it to drop away and leave the wire practically clear.

I am aware that Letters Patent N o. 459,588 have been granted for a trolley-wheel having a hub provided with a circumferential groove that is narrower than the diameter of the wire on Which said Wheel is run, the purpose of the groove, as expressed in said patent,being to receive the fine chips from the under side of the wire. I do not claim such construction, but- What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A trolley-Wheel consisting of a hub B, aseries of arms, D, radiating from said hub and each having an ice -breaking shoulder, H, formed on its inner face, two annular rims, E, formed on the outer extremities ot"Y said arms, and a groove, G, formed at the base of said arms; said groove being fitted to receive and form a close electrical contact with a trolleywire and the spaces between said arms being carried into and longitudinally across the periphery of said hub for the purpose of forming ice-breakers at the bottom of the groove G, as herein specified.

JOHN WV. CLARK.

Witnesses:

WM. M. LOW, Y S. B. BREWER. 

